Teacher Work Sample USC-Aiken AEDS 471

Teacher Work Sample
USC-Aiken
AEDS 471
Table of Contents
(In order at which they appear)
Contextual Factors
Learning Objectives
Assessment Plan
Design for Instruction
Instructional Decision-Making
Analysis of Student Learning Rubric
Reflection and Self-Evaluation Rubric
Contextual Factors
Aiken High School is located on the north side of Aiken County. Aiken High was built
and doors opened in 1888. This was the first school for the town of Aiken. Aiken High has a
total of 1422 students. The students are broken down into race meaning that there are 38
Hispanics, 610 Blacks, and 751 Whites, 7 Asian, 6 American Indians, 9 two or more races, and
one Native Hawaiian.
As of 2009, the Aiken High annual report card was decent. There was an evaluation
result that teachers, top students, and parents were included on. The first question brought up was
the learning environment of the school and the percentage was low for the students. The students
rated it 60.6%, parents 73.3%, and the teachers 90.5% overall. This illustrates that some students
believes that Aiken High may not be the best learning environment it can be. The next question
is what percent is satisfied with the social and physical environment. Again the teachers were the
highest percent with 85.8%, the student’s were 63.6% and now the parents feel the school has a
poor social and physical environment because of a 61.3% decision. This proves that the parents
now do not like the community or social environment the school is in. The final question that
was measured was how is the school-home relation of the school? As before the teachers are the
highest with an 86% satisfaction of the school. The students feel it is ok for a percentage of
78.8%. The parents are once again critical with a satisfaction percent of 61.8%. This means that
parents feel that Aiken High lacks an outstanding learning environment and needs to improve on
their school-home relations.
The classroom aspect of the observation is what as expected. The cooperating teacher has an
animal theme within the chemistry classroom. There are moles and pictures of moles hanging outside the
door and hanging from the ceiling. Moles and mole ratios play a big part in chemistry and so my
cooperating teacher illustrates this in the classroom. The teacher uses a projector most of the time for
lecture which projects onto a smart board. The class has no individual desk! Students sit in groups of 3 to
4 students which are organized by the teacher. There are 8 tables which is the basis for the teacher’s
seating chart. Classroom rules are very simple. Every student must be prepared for every class and each
student has to be ready and excited to learn. The routine the students go through helps them with the
classroom rules. Each day the class comes in and the manager for each group has instructions for his
group. The students read the instructions and begin working. These instructions go from reviewing a
handout to preparing for a test or quiz.
I observed a total of four Chemistry I Honor classes. In the second period class, there were a total
of twenty-two students and a mixture of tenth and eleventh graders. There were twelve boys and ten girls.
There were one Asian, six African-Americans, and fourteen Whites, and one student from Lebanon The
third period class has twenty-seven students. There are eleven boys and sixteen girls. Out of the total
number, there is one African-American, twenty-five Whites, and one Hispanic. The sixth period class has
twenty-six students. There are twelve boys and fourteen girls. Out of the twenty-six, there are two
African-Americans, fifteen Whites, and one Hispanic. The seventh period class has twenty students.
There are nine boys and eleven girls. Out of the total, there are two African-Americans, fifteen Whites,
two Hispanics, and one who is Indian or Pakistani. There were no students who possessed IAPs. From
observing the class, they were very keen on hands-on task and examples. Half of the class was curious all
the time and routinely asked questions about the subject or procedures in labs.
During my two week unit, I have noticed a few significant differences between the four chemistry
classes. My second period class is mostly quiet and hard working. This class does their work and does not
really ask too many questions. I have to ask a lot of questions to initiate conversation in the class and the
lesson picks up from there. I can relax with this class when it comes to having enough time to complete a
lesson. I do not have any discipline issues with this class as far as talking when I’m talking. I don’t know
if this is because second period is still early in the morning or the personality of the majority of this class.
This class also lets me know quickly if something sounds funny. Sometimes I get caught up in the lesson
and forget to explain something thoroughly. This class lets me know if they do not get a concept
concluding that this class is a great first period class when I introduce a new topic.
My third period could not be any more different than my second period class. I have to be on my
game when I introduce a new topic. This class has students who ask a lot of questions. I tend to be a little
more upbeat when teaching this period. I am upbeat for this class because they respond well to me being
upbeat and at times change up my presentation. For example, instead of saying “according to this
theory…I would say hey class let’s check out what Avogadro has to say about particles in gases” or “the
bonus question is back in town for your quiz on Friday.” Majority of the students feed off this, and I am
able to keep them engaged with the lesson rather than talk to their neighbors. Along with having students
who ask a lot of questions, I have many more students who like to socialize. I have learned that I keep the
class going in the lesson I have less of a discipline issue.
My sixth period class is a combination of second and third period. On the left side of the room, I
have a lot of students who ask a lot of questions and feed off my energy while the right side of the room
rather just copy notes and not talk. I’ve had to find a balance in order to keep both sides of the room on
point with the lesson. Everybody works hard and responds to both traditional and informal approaches of
my lecture.
My seventh period class is in a class by itself. If I had to pick a tough class to teach this period
would be my choice. Eight of my nineteen students do not take notes in class, because they rather print
off the notes from the website. Some of those same students then choose to talk during my lecture. Also
this class is harder to motivate to get work accomplished. After going through my internship, I can look
back and see that this class pushed me more than the other classes did and tested my management ability,
but I also feel I reached a level with the students. I had to accept that this class does not have all the
energy the other classes have, but they had their own way of staying engaged. I could not deviate from a
traditional method of lecturing due to the risk of all the students getting off topic.
When making a lesson for a class, a teacher cannot ignore the contextual factors of the students
and community:
After breaking down the classes, the classes are around an even split of 10th and 11th graders. This
divide does not pose a terrible problem since both 10th and 11th graders have completed Physical science
in the 9th grade. Another factor for the class has to be the ability of keeping a great learning environment.
When planning a lesson a teacher will have to cover all the material, but this is hindered if a teacher
cannot promote asking questions and confidence in class. If the student feels scared or lacks confident
that they can ask a question this greatly kills the learning environment. I believe a student will not be
assertive if he feels that his question or explanation is always wrong or crazy. This may be a problem
because all of the students are not the same grade. So this problem falls greatly on the teacher to keep the
environment passive and easy so there are many questions. If all students are asking questions and
students are explaining answers to each other than inquiry is happening. Another contextual factor that is
important is the school-home relation. Teachers can only help students the fifty minutes that they are in
class. If learning stops at the door, the students’ success is greatly hindered. Parents have to keep learning
flowing even if it is just to get the student to complete his/her homework. The teachers and parents have
to be on the same page in order to see the success of the student. So when preparing a lesson, homework
assignments and progress reports are crucial so parents at home can impact the work done in the
classroom. Learning Objectives
The student will demonstrate an understanding of the structure and behavior of the
different phases of matter. This is the chemistry standard for my unit with the indicators being:
Apply the gas laws to problems concerning changes in pressure, volume, or temperature
including Charles’s law, Boyle’s law, and the combined gas law and the ideal gas law (PV =
nRT) to solve problems. Explain the behaviors of gas; the relationship among pressure, volume,
and temperature; and the significance of the Kelvin (absolute temperature) scale, using the
kinetic molecular theory as a model. (5.2; 5.3; 5.7)
The indicator has already stated the primary objective for this unit is to get the students to
apply the gas law and idea gas law equations to calculate changes in pressure, volume,
temperature, and number of particles. The other objectives of this unit are listed in order to the
way they fell in my two week unit. Since there are so many I have listed them as follows:
First Week
1. Define the four quantities (T, P, V and n) that define a gas sample (K)
2. State the standard conditions of temperature and pressure (STP) (K)
3. Use KMT to explain the qualitative relationship of T, P, V, and n (C)
4. Define mole fraction (K, C)-Not in text book
5. Calculate the mole fraction of a gas in a mixture of gases (A) - Not in text book
6. Use Dalton’s law and/or the mole fraction to calculate the partial pressure of a gas in a
mixture (A)
7. Identify the gas laws of Boyle, Charles, Gay-Lussac, and the combined gas law (K)
8. Apply the gas laws to determine T, P, or V of gas sample of fixed quantity (A)
Second Week
1. Apply principles of stoichiometry to calculate volumes of gaseous reactants or products
in a chemical reaction (A)
2. Avogadro’s Principle and significance (K, C)
3. State Ideal Gas Law and use it to calculate pressure, volume, temperature, or amount of
gas when the other three quantities are known. (K, A)
4. State Graham’s law of effusion and diffusion (K)
5. Use Graham’s law to calculate molar mass or rate of effusion/diffusion of an unknown
gas (A)
Along with the objectives above, I want this chapter to help students become better
problem solvers. I want them more process-oriented like “How to do it” rather than just getting
the answer. Lastly, I want the students to be better at identifying and processing steps to analyze
problems. I feel this chapter can help with this since the students have to take analyze a problem
and determine which equation they have to use since we covered at least seven processes for
solving a problem.
According to Bloom’s Taxonomy, knowledge is the base of the pyramid of learning.
Every objective listed above that falls in this level is marked with a letter “K” because the
students will have to memorize the material for this objective. For example, students have to
define and state laws, relations, and standard conditions for gases. The students are required to
remember these concepts. The next level of Bloom’s Taxonomy is comprehension which is
indicated by a capital “C”. A student has to take basic knowledge about a concept such as
Avogadro’s Law and explain its significance. For example, a student will have to state the
relationship between the average molecular velocities of two gases and their molar masses and
comprehend the concept enough to explain in their own words the relationship of the velocities
to the molar masses of the gases. For majority of this unit, the students have used the gas law
equations, ideal gas law, gas stoichiometry, and graham’s law to solve problems relating to
pressure, volume, temperature, number of particles, partial pressure, diffusion and effusion.
These objectives are appropriate because students will be able to state the gas laws and
then be able to calculate problems if quantities are given to them in a real life situation. This
helps with pre-existing knowledge because students have already learned the kinetic molecular
theory and how it applies to an ideal gas, but there really is no such thing as an ideal gas. So
chapter eleven builds on the knowledge that there are assumptions of an ideal gas and explains
how these assumptions can be met with real gases.
Assessment Plan
Learning Objectives
Assessments
Pre-assessment
Learning Objective for
week 1:
Define the four quantities
(T, P, V and n) that
define a gas sample
State the standard
conditions of temperature
and pressure (STP)
Began the class with a
5 min Daily Quiz
consisting of 2
questions on defining
partial pressure and
Boyle’s Law.
Use KMT to explain the
qualitative relationship of
T, P, V, and n
Define mole fraction
Format of
Assessment
Quiz: 4 Multiple
choice questions
having the students
try to recognize
Dalton’s Law and
Named Gas Laws.
Formative
Assessment
Calculate the mole
fraction of a gas in a
mixture of gases
Hw: Section Review
5&6; pg 896 #250
Hw: pg 895-896 #239,
244, 246, 249
Identify the gas laws of
Boyle, Charles, GayLussac, and the combined
gas law
Name Gas Law
Practice Worksheet
(Dalton’s Law; Name
gas law; combined
gas law) problems
Apply the gas laws to
determine T, P, or V of
gas sample of fixed
quantity
Post-Assessment
Explained my
question further if I
had to. If I only got
one answer, I would
call on another
student for their
definition.
Partial Pressure
application question
during lecture
Two Dalton’s Law
problems during
lecture
Use Dalton’s law and/or
the mole fraction to
calculate the partial
pressure of a gas in a
mixture
Adaptations
Quiz: GL-1
containing questions
similar to 1-5
questions from PreQuiz with addition of
I posted the Hw
answers for section
review; pg 896 #250
on my next
PowerPoint slide
Pre-Assessment
Learning Objectives for
week 2:
State Ideal Gas Law and
use it to calculate
pressure, volume,
temperature, or amount
of gas when the other
three quantities are
known.
Apply principles of
stoichiometry to calculate
volumes of gaseous
reactants or products in a
chemical reaction
Formative
Assessment
4 problems making
the student solve
using a Problem
Solving Template
(PST)
Quiz: 6 multiple
choice questions
having the students
define the law of
combining volumes,
Graham’s Law, and
finding which gas
would effuse fastest.
Daily Quiz on lecture
day: I checked
reading notes for
sections 3&4.
Lecture: I gave
application problems
for the Ideal Gas Law
and Graham’s Law.
Avogadro’s Principle and
significance
Hw: pg 898 277 A, B,
280, 282
State Graham’s law of
effusion and diffusion
Gave out Hw answers
for the students to self
assess themselves
Use Graham’s law to
calculate molar mass or
rate of effusion/diffusion
of an unknown gas
Composite
Worksheet: Gas
Stoichiometry,
Graham’s Law, Ideal
Gas Law
Post-Assessment
Looked up examples
for the different types
of osmotic solutions.
Also changed the
procedure for the lab.
Quiz: GL-2
containing similar
questions from the
pre-quiz with addition
of 4 problems making
the student solve
using a Problem
After the first lecture
day, I had to find
extra Hw problems
for the class. Wasn’t
planning on Hw but I
gave them some.
I took a few minutes
to go over some Hw
problems if a student
couldn’t find why
they were wrong.
I had to make a
correction on quiz
day. The chemical
formula was only
used for problem 1
not 1 and 2.
Solving Template
(PST)
Learning Objective for
week 3: (Lab)
The students had to apply
gas stoichiometry to
calculate the theoretical
yield of their collection
of H2 gas over water.
They also had to apply
Dalton’s Law of partial
pressure to calculate the
pressure of H2 in their
experiment.
Pre-Assessment
Formative
Assessment
Post-Assessment
Quiz: GL-1 and 2
quizzes for Dalton’s
Law and Gas
Stoichiometry.
Pre-lab: 7 short
answer questions on
lab safety, safety
concerns, apply
conversion grid,
measuring lab temp
and pressure, and
create a data table.
I explained the
conversion grid wrong
to one class, so I had
use follow up day to
correct the mistake.
For the lab, I had to
change number 3
directions to write
down the volume of
all three trials.
Lab report:
Label data table;
observations. 9 step
by step process to
calculate theoretical
yield and percent
yield of their
experiments. Students
had to write a
conclusion if there
percent yield was
smaller, same, or
larger than their
theoretical yield.
The main objective of this unit was to apply all the concepts of gas laws in order to solve
problems, so I geared my assessment accordingly. The pre-assessment quiz consisted of ten
questions which were worth ten points each. Because this was the pre-assessment quiz, I was not
expecting the grades to meet my learner objectives. In fact, I predicted the scores to be very low.
I told the students do not guess on the pre-quiz because guessing will skew my results, and I do
not want to skip a topic that everybody really did not know.
Basically, I have the same make-up of assessment for both weeks. Since the standards
called for the students to apply the equations, I felt it necessary to drill the students on problems
that they may see on my post test. My formative assessment consisted of HW problems from the
back of the text as well as doing problems in the middle of my lecture. I did not want the content
to escape the students when they left my class, so I have learned that built in problems during
lecture makes the students apply the new knowledge as soon as possible. Also this proved to be a
great informal assessment because I was able to identify my struggling tables and then from
there the struggling individuals. When I passed out the worksheet the next day, I knew which
tables to hang out more with because of the lecture problems.
I gave a post-assessment quiz after each week of teaching. They both had five multiple
choice questions and four problems. Both quizzes were worth 45 points. The multiple choice
questions were one point each while the problems were ten points each. I did give partial credit
to the problems. Students had to use a problem solving template which is broke down into ten
total points. A student had to use a new problem solving template for each problem. One point
will be awarded for correctly labeling knowns, unknown, and unsubstituted equations and/or
equalities. The calculations portion of the template is worth four points. Partial points may be
awarded in this section. Work in this section must be sufficient without having random numbers
or irrelevant work. Finally, the answer portion is worth three total points. The answer needs to
have an answer, correct significant figures, and sign value. This template aligns with my learning
goals because I want to assess the students to learn how to answer a problem in steps. I want to
make a student analyze his/her objective and solve by identifying knowns, unknowns, and then
developing a plan to solve the problem.
My gas stoichiometry lab was my final assessment for the unit. This lab was to bring the
whole unit together. The students had to gather data from the lab, execute their procedure, and
then work up their results using gas stoichiometry from chapter 11. I also worked in Dalton’s law
of partial pressures into this lab to assess the student in all aspects of this chapter. Like every lab,
I assessed the students’ resourcefulness to locate and record data and be able to apply collected
data to the chemistry they already know to reach a goal. The lab was worth 37 points. Five points
was given to a correctly written data table and thorough observations. The students had to answer
nine analytical questions worth 3 points each. I counted off for lack of work, units, and
incomplete answers because I had them do three trials. The conclusion was worth five points. I
was looking if the student said if the experiment was efficient, if the actual yield was more, less,
or same than the theoretical, and why the error was the way it was. They had to give an
explanation why their percent yields were high or low. Students lost points if they said they got a
high percent yield, and they never told me what caused their actual yield to be wrong.
Design for Instruction
Pre-Quiz
60 Grades
50 40 30 20 series 1 10 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 Total Students
Ques%on 3 Pre-­‐Quiz Incorrect 52% correct 48% correct Incorrect The pre-quiz was graded on a 100 point scale. Looking at the scores of the pre-quiz, it seems that
I had to start from scratch. I realized that there was only one question which was somewhat of a
pattern. The question 3 stated, “If the force is held constant as surface area decreases, how does
the pressure change”. Most students were able to give the relationship between surface area and
pressure. According to my data, 48% of my students got the correct answer while 52% got the
question wrong. I was able to conclude that nearly half of my students were already familiar with
this concept. So on the first day of my unit, I covered this concept and did not have to spend a lot
of time since most of the class was familiar with pressure and surface area relationship. Besides
the one question, students scored really low on the other questions on the pre-quiz. The max
score was a 50 out of 100, and this score was only reached by two students while majority of my
students only reached a score of 20 or below.
Lesson Plans for Week of 2/28-3/4
Chemistry I Honors Week 1 goals (see learning objectives)
Day
Topic
Homework
Notes
Activity
Monday
Lecture
Section 11.1 Finish
Daily Quiz: Define
2/28
Chapter 11
Review #5
Lecture
Boyle’s Law and
Gas Law:
and #6; pg
notes on
Partial Pressure
Sections 1,
896 #250
Tuesday
In Lecture
2
problems
Goals 1, 2, 4-6
Tuesday
Finish
Pg 895-896
Second
3/1
Lecture
#239, 244,
PowerPoint Make an in class
11.1 and
246, 249
11.2
In lecture problems
model of PTV grid
to illustrate
relationships
Phet demonstration
Goals 3,7,8
Wednesday
Review
Finish Gas
Phet demonstration
3/2
Gas Law
Law sheet
of Gas Properties
worksheet
before the
worksheet as a
review
Goals 5-8
Thursday
Review for
Study for
Lay out of
Finish worksheets
3/3
Quiz
Quiz; Data
quiz and
Group/supervised
Cards and
Quiz prep
review
PSTs
Friday
Quiz
3/4
Read 11.3
and 11.4
Reading
Feedback
for Monday
Lesson Plans for 3/7-3/11
Chemistry I Honors Week 2 goals (see learning objectives)
Day
Monday
3/7
Topic
Lecture;
Homework
Study Notes
Notes
Activity
Finish
Phet demo but
Chapter 11
Lecture
view the
Sections 11.3
notes on
relationships
and 11.4
Tuesday
by changing
Check
reading
notes for a
the amounts
of particles.
Goal 3
DQ
Tuesday
3/8
Lecture 11.3
Finish the
Finish
Reconstructed
and 11.4
Gas
lecture notes
the old
Hand out Gas
Stoichiometry on
Stoichiometry
Stoichiometry worksheet
Wednesday
worksheet
Roadmaps
Illustrated
differences in
the new and
old ones.
Goals 1-2
Wednesday
3/9
Lecture 11.3-
Finish Gas
In class
11.4
Stoichiometry
lecture
and Graham’s
problems for
Law
the students
Application:
Answers to
worksheet
Goals 4-5
Worksheet,
Another
worksheet for
Stocihiometry
and Graham’s
Law
Thursday
3/10
Review for
Study for
Lay out of
Goals 1,3,5
Quiz
Quiz; Data
quiz and
for Gas
Cards and
Quiz prep
Stoichiometry,
PSTs
Ideal and
Graham’s
Law
Friday
3/11
Quiz
Look over
11.1 and 11.3
for Lab MonWed
Lesson Plan for 3/14-3/16
Chemistry 1 Honors Week 1 and 2 goals (see learning objectives)
Day
Topic
Homework
Notes
Activity
Monday
Pre-lab
Study procedure
Make sure I
Goals: Week 1
3/14
Build apparatus
and bring pre-labs
check every
(2,6)
to class on
groups apparatus
Week 2 (1)
Tuesday
Tuesday
Lab Day
3/15
Review collected
Monitor Lab
data
safety and assist
students
Wednesday
3/16
Post Labs
Read Section 12.1
Work on post
Post Lab
and 12.2 Solutions
labs all class
sheets
they are due by
Friday
Activities
My concluding activity for the unit was a Gas stoichiometry/Dalton’s Lab. Magnesium is
an active metal that reacts quickly with hydrochloric acid to produce hydrogen gas. In this
experiment, a known amount of magnesium will react with hydrochloric acid, and you will
collect and measure the volume of hydrogen gas produced. Knowing the mass of magnesium,
you can calculate the number of moles of magnesium consumed and determine the volume of
hydrogen that should be produced at the pressure and temperature of the lab. You will then
compare your measured volume of H2 to the predicted volume of H2. Like any lab, I will assess
the students’ ability to exercise the scientific method. The experiment is based on Dalton’s law in
the way we are using a gas to displace water. Then the students are going to use stoichiometry to
calculate grams of magnesium to volume of Hydrogen gas. From my pre-quiz assessed the
students on every concept but not the problems. They know the concepts of what is supposed to
happen and now applying the calculations to prove those concepts. According to my contextual
factors, my students love hands on learning. This lab gives the students the ability to do
chemistry and gather their own data to solve the problems. My materials for this lab are listed
below: Graduate cylinder, 250 mL Erlenmeyer flask, 3M HCl, Magnesium ribbon, Water trough,
Glass maker (China wax pen), Ring Stand, Burette Clamp, 2-hole stopper, Rubber tube, Thistle
tube, Piece of index card, 50-mL beaker, 50 mL Erlenmeyer flask. I will assess the progress of
the lab groups. I will ask questions of how to acquire data and about the procedure. Following
the experiment, the students have to complete a two page post lab. They have to calculate three
theoretical yields for their three trials. They had to use gas stoichiometry to do this. Also they
had to use previous knowledge of calculating percent yield in order to draw a conclusion for their
trials.
During the first week of my unit, I was teaching the relationships of pressure, volume,
and temperature when quantity is held constant. In order to help the students with these
relationships, I wanted the students to build a PTV model. I had each student take out a piece of
paper and write P, T, V across the page. They had to make a pencil hole in the middle of each
letter. Once the holes were made, I illustrated that whichever whole their pencil was in that
quantity is held constant. Now if they move the piece of paper up or down, they will show the
relationship of the other two variables. For example, if I hold temperature constant with my
pencil and I push up pressure volume will go down. This illustrates Boyle’s Law. This activity
aligned with my goal to identify Boyle’s, Charles’s’, and Gay Lussac’s Law. Again this activity
was a big hit because according to my contextual factors the students love hands on learning and
respond well to different activities. I did not have to bring in any materials. I had already premade my example to first illustrate how the model works. Then I had the students create their
own model using their own paper and pencils. I assessed the demo by teaching the gas law
concepts through the demo. I would make a variable a constant than I would the class what will
be my relationships when I increase or decrease a variable. Then I would ask the students which
gas law this relation pertained to.
Another exciting activity that the students enjoyed was the phet demonstration on gas
properties. I was able to show the students how changing a variable among PVT and number
influences other gas properties. Also I was able to teach how changing the temperature will
affect the speed of the molecules. This activity really showed the students how the kinetic
molecular theory (KMT) came into effect in this chapter. This activity helped me link gas
properties to a real world situation with heating up a spray can. I increased the temperature on
the particles in my box and I steadily increased the temperature until the lid blew off. I told the
class this is what happens to spray and paint cans. Now they were able to link the danger labels
on the can to real chemistry. This activity took a projector and computer. I had to download the
demonstration to my desktop in order to pull it up in class. I was able to use the smart board
because the particles were added to the box by a bicycle pump. I could manipulate the demo with
the help of the smart board.
Technology
I used technology a lot with my presentations of my content. All of my lectures were
presented through PowerPoint. My phet demonstration on gas properties was my biggest import
of technology for this chapter. I was able to use this demo both weeks of my unit. For week one,
I just used it for comparing properties, and then I was able to show the relationships of PVT with
changing the number of particles during the second week.
Instructional Decision-Making
My first chance to make a decision came early in the first week. I started my second
PowerPoint dealing with the named gas laws. I had the slides set up where I would introduce all
of the named gas laws and then break each one down. Each law will have their own slide
explaining how to derive the equation which is used to solve the problems in the chapter. First, I
went straight through the slides lecturing to the class that the lower case “k” is a constant and
that is it. I was also interchanging what “k” was to the variable being held constant in each law.
Many students were asking what is “k” again and why does it “go away”. I simply said it is a
constant so one relationship equals the other relationship. I found out at the end of the day when
after my CT observed my seventh period class. He explained to me that I need to explain a little
more how the equation is derived and really get across to the students the difference between “k”
constant and the variable being held constant. Along with my CT telling me the error, I started to
see the students using the wrong part of the equation on their problems. For example, they were
using p=k/v rather than the correct way of P1V1=P2V2.
After shaking off my disappointment, I knew I had to re-teach this small section again.
This was the only way I knew to make it right. After reviewing the concept with my CT, I
figured I can use the gas law graphs in my PowerPoint to explain the “k” constant numerically to
the students. The next day I decided to take at least ten minutes to review this concept with every
class. I told the class that “k” is a constant of proportionality and it is nothing like a variable held
constant such as volume, temperature, or pressure. I said the beautiful thing about a constant in
math is that a constant is always constant. I explained that one set of measurements P1V1 is
equaled to another set of measurements P2V2 which is what “k” means. I took this time to use the
graphs I already had for the gas laws to illustrate and calculate a “k” in order to show the
students rather than just let them take my word for it. I picked two different points on the same
graph and when I plugged the numbers into the equation the result for both points equaled each
other which stands for “k”. When I took this extra time on this concept, I felt like I cleaned up
my mess as well as help clear up the confusion of which equation the students need to use.
Students realized why they had to use equations like P1V1=P2V2 rather than the equation with the
“k” constant.
My second chance to make a decision came in the second week of my unit. I was
introducing gas stoichiometry on Tuesday of that week. I started my lesson on gas stoichiometry
and when I got to the roadmap I just wanted the students to add the small additions to their old
roadmaps. When I got to the slide titled ‘We need to modify this”, I instructed the class to take
out their old roadmaps so we can make the changes. When the class was ready, I switched to a
picture of the new roadmap. The printed picture appeared very small and the complaining and
hands hit the air! The class started squinting and raising their hands asking what was what. They
were also asking me to repeat what I would say about the roadmap. This was a big problem
because I quickly became bogged down on a slide that was supposed to be a simple modification
of something they already had. Something I planned to take five minutes tops took almost twelve
to fifteen.
I limped through my second period class knowing the whole time that this needs to be
changed if I was going to make it through the day with a voice since I repeated myself so much
during second period. When the bell rang, I started my PowerPoint over and put up my
instruction to managers for third period. My cooperating teacher walked in to check on me, and I
quickly explained to him that I need to get this roadmap to the students another way since they
could not see the changes on the slide. I asked him if I could make copies of the new roadmap
while he watched the class. He offered to do the copies and told me to stay in the classroom with
third period. My cooperating teacher walked in with the copies as the tardy bell was ringing. I
was ready to go now with a new way to implement the additions to the stoichiometry roadmap.
When I came to this point again with third period, I avoided reading off the changes to the class
and letting them try to copy it down. I simply passed out a new and improved roadmap that
already had the additions. I was able to successfully explain the two new given and wanted
destinations on the roadmap. I was able to explain how to calculate volume going from STP to
not at STP. Instead of the students taking time to copy something down they would have trouble
in seeing, they already had the copy. Students could now follow my lecture without skipping a
beat. This change worked great so the next day I passed out the new roadmaps to second period
and cleared up any confusion with any students who were lost during the struggle the day before.
Analysis of Student Learning
My first analysis was the comparison of my pre-quiz to both topic tests, GL-1 and GL-2.
I taught four large classes; therefore, I felt necessary to give a graphic analysis of each class.
Individual student scores are listed in my excel spreadsheet under the pre-quiz stats tab.
According to the data, class averages for the pre-assessment quiz were 10, 18.2, 14.8, and 17.9.
The post-assessment quiz averages for the class were 90.4, 90, 90, and 89.3 percentile for GL-1.
For GL-2, the class averages were 85.9, 91.9, 87.9, and 86.7 percentile. For my gas
stoichiometry lab, the class averages were 85, 97, 92 and 88.
Grades on Tests 2nd Period 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Pre-­‐Quiz GL-­‐1 GL-­‐2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Number of students in class This diagram is a combination of the pre-quiz along with the two post quizzes according
to the number of each student in the class. The blue color marked the students’ grade on the preassessment quiz. The red line shows the students’ post assessment grade for GL-1, and the green
line shows the students’ post assessment grade for GL-2. According to the data, every student
increased their scores from the pre-quiz significantly! Every student in my second period class
passed GL-1 quiz. The students mastered the learning goals I set out for the week. All but one
student passed the GL-2 quizzed with a 70 or higher. The student who did not pass failed
because he did not answer like three whole problems. He was absent for two days that week and
never came by for extra help.
100 3rd Period 90 Grades on Tests 80 70 60 50 Pre-­‐Quiz 40 GL-­‐1 30 GL-­‐2 20 10 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 Number of Students in class This diagram is a combination of the pre-quiz along with the two post quizzes according
to the number of each student in the class. The blue color marked the students’ grade on the preassessment quiz. The red line shows the students’ post assessment grade for GL-1, and the green
line shows the students’ post assessment grade for GL-2. According to the data, every student
increased their scores from the pre-quiz significantly! All but one student in my third period
class passed GL-1 quiz. The student who did not pass received a zero for the quiz because he
was absent and did not make up the quiz before the deadline. All of my students passed the GL-2
quizzed with a 70 or higher. So for both quizzes the students mastered the learning goals I set
out for the unit. Grades on Tests 6th Period 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Pre-­‐Quiz GL-­‐1 GL-­‐2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 Number of Students in class This diagram is a combination of the pre-quiz along with the two post quizzes according
to the number of each student in the class. The blue color marked the students’ grade on the preassessment quiz. The red line shows the students’ post assessment grade for GL-1, and the green
line shows the students’ post assessment grade for GL-2. According to the data, every student
increased their scores from the pre-quiz significantly! All but one student in my sixth period
class passed GL-1 quiz with a 70 or higher. The student missed the cut by ten points. She too did
not answer a couple of problems which were worth ten points each. All of my students passed
the GL-2 quizzed with a 70 or higher. So for both quizzes the students mastered the learning
goals I set out for the unit. Grades on Tests 7th Period 100 80 60 Pre-­‐Quiz 40 GL-­‐1 20 GL-­‐2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Number of Students in Class This diagram is a combination of the pre-quiz along with the two post quizzes according
to the number of each student in the class. The blue color marked the students’ grade on the preassessment quiz. The red line shows the students’ post assessment grade for GL-1, and the green
line shows the students’ post assessment grade for GL-2. According to the data, every student
increased their scores from the pre-quiz significantly! I had a student for each quiz not make the
mastery level. Both students came up to me during the quiz and said they were not ready. I told
them to finish the quiz and I will see how they did when I grade the tests. Both students scored
really low if I remember it was in the 20s. One student retook the quiz and made close to a 70.
The other student did not take advantage of my policy for retaking quizzes and his bad grade
stuck.
The next couple of graphs will be a breakdown of individual questions on each of the
post assessment quiz. I will identify the struggling areas my students had with certain questions.
GL-­‐2 #2 correct 29% incorrect 71% incorrect correct On my second post quiz, I ran into a question where many students struggled with.
According to my pie chart, only 29% of my students got the correct answer while a whopping
71% missed the question. The question sates, “For reactants and products that are gases, the
coefficients in the chemical equation indicate”. The correct choice was volume, but most of the
students selected molar volume. I realized that the students thought molar volume would be the
answer since moles correspond to the chemical formula. The correct answer is volume because
the coefficients are general just like volume.
GL-­‐2 #4 correct 64% incorrect 36% incorrect correct I wanted to add this graph to illustrate a missed question that really only happened on one of the
versions. For this question, 36% of my students were incorrect in answering this question. The
question stated, “Which gas would you predict to effuse the fastest?” I was asking to pick the gas
which would effuse the fastest while the other version was to predict which gas would effuse the
slowest. What the students didn’t account for in this version was Mr. “HOFBrINCl”s. This
mnemonic stands for the diatomic elements on the periodic table for example, hydrogen, oxygen,
fluorine, bromine, iodine, nitrogen, and chlorine.
GL-­‐1 #4 incorrect 30% correct 70% incorrect correct For this question, I had the students apply a table that I have given them and they had to do a
small calculation. On one version, they had to calculate the partial pressure of butane gas over
water at 35oC. They were also given the total pressure of a lab at 103.5 kPa. According to my
chart, about a third of my students missed this concept. I do not believe it was because of the
math. I feel the students did not know that they had to use the table at the bottom of the page. I
know this because some of the wrong answers were “not enough information”. I gave them the
table and they still picked this answer. I feel this was a connection problem between reading the
problem and knowing exactly what to do. Even though 70% of the students got it correct, I felt
that too many students got this wrong. I need to go back through my lecture and see why some
students didn’t make the connection. I’m scratching my head because I worked a problem like
this in class and still 30% of the students still missed it. GL-­‐1 Problem concept correct 68% incorrect 32% incorrect correct This chart is a representation of a word problem concept that I was testing the students on.
According to the chart, 32% of the students did not convert Celsius to Kelvin before they worked
the name gas law problems. I preached all week that you will get the answer wrong if you do not
convert Celsius to Kelvin before working the problem. Now I asked the answer to be put in
Celsius so I believe some students felt if I wanted the answer in Celsius than they would start
with Celsius. This was a mistake. I feel confident that the concept was mastered since 68% of my
students did this conversion with no problems, yet I am still weary that 32% still couldn’t nail the
concept.
I chose boys vs. girls for my subgroups. I always think it is interesting to test if girls are smarter
than boys. I did note that there are more girls in my honor classes. Out of 94 students 42 are boys
while 52 are girls. In the next three graphs I will compare boys vs. girls on my pre and post
quizzes.
Pre-­‐quiz Number of Students 60 50 13.5 17.8 40 30 Boys 20 Girls 10 0 0-­‐69 F 70-­‐76 D 77-­‐84 C 85-­‐92 B 93-­‐100 A Ranges of Grades This graph illustrates the relationship of boys vs. girls in regards to the pre-quiz. Besides
everybody failing the quiz, I noticed that the averages for each group were different. The boys
averaged 17.8% out of 100% while the girls averaged a low 13.5% out of a 100%. This data was
interesting when I compared it to the post assessment quizzes. I do not know if these averages
would do justice since I am averaging ten more girls’ grades.
Number of students GL-­‐1 Quiz 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 34 20 9 2 1 2 3 0-­‐69 F 70-­‐76 D 9 Boys 11 Girls 3 77-­‐84 C 85-­‐92 B Ranges of grades 93-­‐100 A After my first unit quiz, I didn’t know what to expect as far as an accomplished grade report.
According to this chart, only three students did not make the mastery cut at 70%. For the boys
who failed, one of guys did not take the quiz. He was absent and never made up the quiz. When
he came to me to take it, I did not let him because it was after the final day to make-up quizzes
set by my cooperating teacher. I do not believe the other student was ready for the quiz. The
student came up to me after he turned the quiz in and said may I retake the quiz since he bombed
it. I passed back the graded quizzes, yet the student never made an appointment to make up his
quiz so he kept his “F”. There was only one girl who failed the quiz. From what I remember
there was not a story about her quiz. When I graded her test, she left half of some problems blank
which caused her lose a lot of points. For GL-1, the girls ran away with the total averages. This
chart illustrates that majority of the girls mastered the learning goals at a higher average than the
boys.
GL-­‐2 Quiz Number of Students 30 26 25 20 20 15 10 5 0 15 12 2 0 0-­‐69 F 3 10 5 Boys Girls 1 70-­‐76 D 77-­‐84 C 85-­‐92 B 93-­‐100 A Ranges of Grades According to the chart, GL-2 was a harder quiz for the students. The girl averages were not as
top heavy as GL-1. There was almost a even split in As and Bs. For the boys, the chart shifted to
the B and C range. From GL-1 to GL-2, the boys increased in Cs and Bs and decreased in As.
There were still two boys who did not pass my mastery goal of 70%. One student told me during
the quiz he was not ready for the quiz and I told him to complete what he knows and retake the
quiz. This student did retake the quiz but still fell below 70%. The other male student failed this
quiz because of his work ethic. When I graded his quiz, he would leave almost entire problems
blank. I would be forced to take off 8 of the 10 points for the problems. He would not even
attempt them! I have to get through to this student somehow because he works on other subjects
during class and he rarely does any homework. I also have to keep him working during class
since he likes to knock off before the bell rings. I had a small conference with him after this quiz,
but nothing has changed even after my unit. I’ve let me CT know and he plans to do a follow up
on another conference or possibly an email to the parents.
I selected two completely different students. For example, the students are different by
race, periods, and sex. I want to know what made my female student succeed and why my
particular male student is struggling. I’ve had conversations with both students about how they
like to learn or what are the ways they understand subjects. Both answers were somewhat the
same. My female student stated, “I have to have examples and see how it needs to be done”. My
male student said, “I just need practice and see the problems over and over.” Now that I know
they need examples and practice, I have geared my lessons to help the visual learning of these
two students. After looking at both students post assessment of GL-1, I have learned that my
female student made a perfect 100%, and her work on the problems was spot on. For my male
student, he passed GL-1 with a 70% and his work reflected that. He did not just miss just the
problems. He missed questions that we covered exactly in lecture. I had a picture of Dalton’s law
in my PowerPoint to show the displacement of water by a gas. I do not have copies of their
formative assessment, but my formative assessments consisted of homework, lecture problems,
and worksheets. I gave these materials back to the students so they could study for my post
assessments. My formative assessments are listed in my unit description for each learning
objective on GL-1 quiz. According to the student work, the female student mastered every aspect
of the problems from process, unit canceling, and thorough representation of work. My male
student missed points on one important concept for all of the problems. He forgot to convert
Celsius to Kelvin before pointing the temperature into the equation. As well as losing over half
the points for a problem because he did not know the concept of STP or Standard Temperature
and Pressure.
Reflection and Self-Evaluation
Out of my thirteen learning objectives, my students greatly accomplished goal eight from
week one. The goal stated the students need to apply the gas laws to determine T, P, or V of gas
sample of fixed quantity. I was excited that my most successful goal was one of my highest
bloom’s taxonomy levels. My students had to take quantities of pressure, volume, or
temperature, and apply the named gas law equations to solve the problems. With a lot of
application of equations in this unit, I knew going into the lesson I needed to present this lesson
as a math lesson. In order for my students to succeed on my post quiz, they had to be able to
apply the equations they learned to the word problems. My first attempt on this task was during
lecture by adding in class problems to my PowerPoint. I was able to introduce how the equations
were derived and which equation they needed to know. Then as soon as they copied down the
equations, I made the students apply the equation to a problem. I had them work on the problem
in their groups for a few minutes and then I went over the answer as a class. I was able to assess
majority of my class on the application of this equation. This also gave the students a correct
problem to have in their notes when they start their homework. Next, I assigned homework
problems every night and supplied the answers to the students the next day. My best exercise is
where I passed out a worksheet where each student had to apply the all of the equations they
have learned. This exercise was a guided activity where I walked around the class and helped
when students became bogged down. The students worked in groups also in a cooperative
learning environment. After a day and half working on these worksheets the students were
grasping the goals. According to my contextual factors, the students love hands on activities
rather than lectures. In knowing this, I implemented as much group work as I could. Having
students work in groups while I floated around the room was the turning point for my learning
goals being accomplished.
There was one learning goal in which my students did not grasp. According to my data,
learning goal for week two was not accomplished. The students were able to apply the gas
stoichiometry roadmap, but the concept of what the coefficients represent was a different story.
They could not make the connection that in gas stoichiometry the coefficients represent volume.
One reason for this lack of success is the speed at which I covered the topic. I tried to fit all of
my stoichiometry slides into one day. Meaning I was only able to say coefficients mean volume
and the units can be liters, milliliters, or meters cubed. Also I should have gone over a term I put
on the quiz. I listed molar volume as an answer for the coefficients. I needed to explain to the
students that molar volume is how much volume for one mole of gas. The coefficients actually
just stand for volume. This concept needed to be settled during lecture. I needed to explain this
concept and will make the adjustment for next year.
I came up with two professional learning goals after my experiences with the teacher
work sample. My first goal is maintaining a variety of instructional strategies. I learned first hand
that all students do not learn the same way. Some students responded well to my phet
demonstrations on the smart board. While others like grinding it out with problems in groups.
Some students expressed that they retain knowledge by my use of funny sayings or mnemonics.
For example, when I explained conversions I used a visual demonstration to the sound of “marry
had a little lamb” large to small you multiply and small to large you divide. In order to increase
my strategies, I will surf the web for the creation of new phet demonstrations. Also I will try to
attend smart board seminars to increase my knowledge of the uses of smart boards for high
school lessons. I want to try to have a demo or lab for every topic on the shelf. Chemistry is hard
to see since we are talking about things on the molecular level, but helping the students see as
much chemistry as they can brings excitement to the classroom which increases the learning
environment.
My second goal would be asking professional help with content knowledge. Some ways I
would accomplish this goal would be rehearsing my lectures with accomplished teachers, ask
questions on content, or ask how they would introduce a certain topic. I would also ask a fellow
teacher if I could send my PowerPoint to them to get feedback on my lecture notes. For example,
I sent my Power Points to my cooperating teacher for every lecture so he could identify if I left
anything out. Even though he checked off my slides, I would rehearse every slide and he would
ask what I want my students to get from this slide. This proved to be greatly beneficial for my
students and for me. I would not hold my questions just for lectures. I would ask around to other
science teachers and ask if they have performed a lab which I wanted to implement. This works
great for two reasons. First, the lab may be difficult and we do not have the materials. Second,
the lab has already been performed and the teacher could let me see their post labs and the
materials they used for the lab. I would keep using these steps until I master the delivery of the
topics. Students should have the best information and deliveries out there. I will keep amending
my lessons every year to constantly help my students succeed.